Alaska Pride is a political blog dealing with issues of particular interest to Alaskans and those interested in Alaska. As Alaska's most politically incorrect blog, Alaska Pride addresses multiple issues ranging from politics, the environment, religion, and even race. I also seek to educate Outsiders about the real Alaska - why we cost more, and why it's a worthwhile investment for America.

But mindful of the "ethics fascists" who are constantly on the prowl, looking for even the tiniest excuse to spam her with an "ethics complaint", Governor Palin, who briefly considered sponsoring the measure herself, decided otherwise after checking with the state's lawyers. "I got a preliminary opinion from Law (Department) just giving me a heads up that critics would certainly file an ethics charge against me if I were to sponsor an initiative. So though I maintain I have First Amendment rights just as any other citizen does, I won't flirt with the notion of giving critics more ammunition to keep filing wasteful ethics charges against me, but instead I'll volunteer to be the first signature," Palin said.

The initiative sponsors, including former Lt. Gov. Loren Leman, former Anchorage school board candidate Mia Costello, and Kim Hummer-Minnery, who is the wife of Alaska Family Council President Jim Minnery, applied last week to start gathering signatures. Specifically, the proposed measure, which is more precisely described as a "parental involvement initiative", would require parental "notice or consent" before a woman under 18 could have an abortion, unless the teen convinced a court otherwise or there was a medical emergency. There would have to be a 48-hour waiting period after the parent is notified -- but that could be waived if the parent gave consent for the abortion.

The sponsors can start collecting signatures once Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell certifies the ballot language as legal. The goal is to get the initiative on the ballot for the next primary election, which will be in August 2010. That would require the sponsors to gather at least 32,734 signatures before the legislative session starts in January 2010. And Jim Minnery believes it will be a piece of cake to get the required signatures, since he describes it as a parental rights initiative rather than an anti-abortion initiative. A KTUU Channel 2 "unscientific" poll taken late on May 4th strongly corroborates Minnery's opinion; this poll indicates that 77 percent of respondents would vote in favor of this initiative.

Other influential supporters will likely include Pastor Jerry Prevo of the Anchorage Baptist Temple and North Pole-area Pastor Rick Sikma, who ran for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senator in 2008. Many other Evangelicals, as well as Mormons and Catholics, are likely to support the initiative as well.

On the other side of the fence, Planned Parenthood will oppose the initiative. Many teens come from unhealthy families and could take dangerous steps to avoid the consequences that would come from facing their parents, said Clover Simon, the Alaska vice president of Planned Parenthood. "I'm afraid that young women in that situation are going to see this and they're just not going to get any help at all and they are going to take things into their own hand. ... If you Google abortion or self-induced abortion you can get all kinds of bad advice," she said. But Ms. Simon produced no statistics showing if this is a widespread problem or not; generally, such cases of egregious abuse tend to be few and far between.

But setting this whole process in motion was the infamous decision by the Alaska Supreme Court in November 2007, when by a 3-2 vote, they invalidated Alaska's parental consent law, claiming that it robbed a pregnant teen of her "constitutional right" to make such an important decision herself and transfers that right to her parents or a judge. But Chief Justice Dana Fabe, in the majority decision for the court, offered some wiggle room, suggesting that a law requiring parents to be notified but not necessarily give consent would probably pass judicial muster.

It's good to see Governor Palin playing offense as well as defense on social issues once again. It is illogical to deny parents control over teenage abortions when their consent is required before their teenagers can receive other non-emergency medical treatment. While the ballot measure is not the best way to enact such a law, legislative inaction makes it necessary.

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About Me

It's time for Americans to take America back! America has been in the hands of special interests too long. Sometimes it's necessary to set aside the labels; while I prefer the conservative solution, sometimes you gotta go to the left. Sometimes capitalism requires an occasional daub of socialism to smooth its sharper edges.